


Arc V Anniversary Drabbles

by TheTacticianAlchemist



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Drabble Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-17 03:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14179425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTacticianAlchemist/pseuds/TheTacticianAlchemist
Summary: Small works to celebrate Arc V.





	Arc V Anniversary Drabbles

**Author's Note:**

> This first one is written in a style I haven't done in a long time--full-blown past tense, and written kind of in a storybook fashion. This one was really fun to write once I had the idea down!
> 
> The last line of this first drabble is up to interpretation. lol, even I'm not 100% sure about the interpretation.

Once, there was a faraway land which had lost its smiles.

The sky was always covered in clouds. There were no colors—only grey, broken buildings and scattered rocks. Even the red scarves that the people wore to remind themselves of days long past began to fade, and life became not just dull, but frightening.

One day, a young man named Yuto was venturing as far as he dared to find more food and water. Although it was dangerous to go alone, he trusted himself in a fight.

He was filling buckets with water from the stream when he heard footsteps. From out of the woods, a boy appearing to be his age wearing bright orange appeared, his hair a mop of red and green. The boy caught sight of him and his lips curved upward.

Yuto froze, his hands clenching onto the buckets as they hung heavily at his sides. The boy was unlike anyone he could remember meeting. What was he even doing with his face?

The boy bounced up to him, asking for help. He said he was tired—although Yuto couldn’t really believe that, when he radiated energy—and needed a place to stay. Yuto eyed him warily, but that thing he did with his lips was intriguing, so he nodded and led him back to his home.

The people shied away from the new boy, some even hiding behind broken slabs of concrete. Seeing Yuto with him made them seem more at ease, but just slightly. The boy walked around with him as he distributed the water after he boiled it, and the boy would wave at everyone—especially the children—and do that thing where he curled his lips upward.

Finally, Yuto had enough water left for himself and went back to where he slept—a small, dingy place with a blanket and a lumpy, ratty pillow. The boy stuck to him like glue, although Yuto could say that was because of the size of his living arrangements. When they went to bed, the bright boy fell asleep almost instantly and instinctively snuggled up next to him. It confused Yuto to no end, but he had to admit, the extra warmth was…nice.

For no explicable reason, the boy decided to stay for a few days. He told Yuto about where he came from: A bright, colorful world where there were fun games played with cards that almost made it seem like creatures could come to life. The boy showed him his cards, and even—when they were away from the ruined city so as to not scare anyone—showed him a dragon-creature.

It awed Yuto, the stories and the things from the boy’s world. He found himself asking all sorts of questions as time went on, his hesitation and his fear of the boy quickly disappearing in the wake of his upturned lips.

The people in the city grew curious as well, peering at the boy as he and Yuto would pass by. Some children would run up to the boy and pester him with questions, and the boy would patiently and enthusiastically answer. And finally, when he showed his cute card-creatures to the citizens, they came forward in amazement, not fear.

One day, as they sat together, the boy asked if Yuto had noticed anything different about their surroundings. Yuto’s brows furrowed together and he shook his head. The boy laughed and pointed.

Yuto followed his gesture with his gaze. There were children running around, chasing each other with hands outstretched. They were more energetic than Yuto could remember, so he said that, and the boy laughed again and told him to look closer.

And then he saw it: Their cheeks were a bright red, matching the scarves on their arms, and their open mouths showed their upturned lips.

Yuto blinked, stunned, and turned back to the boy to ask what was happening. The boy just closed his eyes, and though his lips were upturned, he seemed far quieter.

The boy stood and started walking away, and Yuto stood, hurrying after him. Yuto asked a question again, but this time, it was about what that thing was called—that thing where your lips raised up.

The boy stopped, and he turned around, so bright and so colorful that it seemed that the world around him grew more beautiful.

“A smile,” he said.

“A smile,” Yuto repeated, and his cheeks twitched.

The boy laughed, and then, his smile fell back into that small, soft one, his red eyes faraway.

He said three more words, and then, when Yuto smiled, he turned and left.


End file.
